14 Books to Change 2014

This is it, girls. The last day of 2013! I've finished RBMW for this year. If you haven't, just hunker down and plow through it to start off the new year. If you feel like you're not ready for it, or it's hard to understand, put it aside for a few months while you read other stimulating Christian discipleship literature, then try it again. For 2014, I recommend reading your Bible every day, and reading God, Marriage, and Family by Andreas Kostenberger, which I've already begun. :)

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It's been quite a year.

For the new year I have one resolution:

~to desire God more~


.....which is not a resolution I can pull off on my own. He will finish his good work in me, and I am ready for whatever that takes.

I've been weak in soul nourishment this past year. I feel it. I hate entering a new year feeling spiritually anemic, but it's my own fault. By the grace of God, I've worked out a reading plan for the next year to arrive at this place next year perhaps a little wiser than I am now. There are fourteen books I'm resolving to read; books I've read in the past, books I have yet to read, books who've influenced people for decades and radically changed lives. Here's the plan so far:


Daily:
--Bible (4 chapters daily=through the Bible in 1 year)
--My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers) (daily entry, about 1 page)
--Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem) (3-4 pages per day)                                                     (1264 pages)

Other books to work through:

--God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation (Andreas Kostenberger)               (399 pages)
--Humility: True Greatness (C.J. Mahaney)                                                                                      (176 pages)

--Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (Michael Reeves)                            (145 pages)

--Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (John Piper)                                                     (368 pages)

--Why Revival Tarries (Leonard Ravenhill)                                                                                       (176 pages)

--Foxe's Book of Martyrs (John Foxe)                                                                                              (442 pages)

--The Cost of Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)                                                                               (320 pages)

--Knowledge of the Holy:The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life (A.W. Tozer)    (128 pages)

--Humility (Andrew Murray)                                                                                                             (95 pages)

--Holiness (J.C. Ryle)                                                                                                                       (298 pages)

--Knowing God (J.I. Packer)                                                                                                            (312 pages)

total.................................................................................................................................................2,859 pages = 8 pages per day

I don't know about you, but 4 chapters from the Bible and *only* 13 pages of other reading per day sounds pretty do-able. Let's do it.

2014 = Soli Deo Gloria!

Grace and peace,

Brenna

The Relief of Being Ordinary

When I was young, every time I became interested in a new hobby, I imagined that someday I would be "great" at it, that this might be the niche that would unlock "my special gift." After all, God gives special gifts to people, right? The world is full of brilliant prodigy, doing amazing things, defying the laws of nature though some mysterious combination of innate ability and single-minded pursuit.

Over the years, I've come to realize something, something that only this year I accepted fully--I am decidedly ordinary. And I cannot tell you what relief, joy, and freedom came flooding over me with this realization.

I've embraced the reality that I am only a little artistic, only a little musical, only a little athletic, only a little academic, and so on. Rather than despairing, crawling off to feel miserable (but only in a mediocre way), I was suddenly set free. No longer do I have to pretend to be more learned than I am, have more stamina than I really do, that I am some spiritual giant well versed in all matters of doctrine. I'm not. I don't. I'm making progress, but I'll never be impressive. No longer do I have to feel ashamed, even privately, that I have nothing to recommend me--no talent, no accomplishment to set me apart from the masses. I am one of the masses.

I had seen this realization coming for awhile, but put off facing it because I expected an avalanche of dashed hopes. How wrong I was. When I finally acknowledged the truth, I was instantly cut loose from the wearying cycle of self-improvement, competition, failure, jealousy, etc. I had been given an invaluable gift--the gift of being ordinary. Now, instead of feeling as though I can never partake in the perfect fruit reserved for the elite, I rejoice because God made me mild enough to taste and enjoy many of life's beauties, because I know I lack the ability (and the potential for greatness) to ever be sucked in to pursuing only one.

It's easier to feel on-par with ordinary people when a person admits to being one of them. Strung-out people smelling of dirty dogs, old beer and unwashed hair garner less disdain from me now than a few years ago. But for the grace of God, there go I. Envies have a way of dissipating when I take stock of my surroundings and marvel at the blessings I enjoy, through no merit of my own. How merciful is my Savior.

All of this makes me wonder: What other selfish dreams, other idols, am I clutching tightly to my chest, unwilling to surrender because I imagine they will bring me pain if I let them go . . . and how many of these are really just plugging heaven's dam of torrential blessings?